Nell Freudenberger tests ‘The Limits’ of ambition, empathy, and knowledge in a story centered around a missing girl

“The Limits” begins with a missing girl and a mystery, then flashes back to give us the history that led up to this perilous moment. The novel takes place during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and has five alternating points of view, all but one conveyed through a close third-person perspective. Nell Freudenberger burst onto the literary scene over 20 years ago when her debut short story collection, “Lucky Girls,” was published to rapturous reviews and won the PEN/Malamud Award. In the years since, she has written a...